- The non-profit Centre for Information Resilience looked at pictures of funerals in six areas of southern Ukraine.
- The authors saw 1,141 new graves between March 28 and May 12.
- Almost 1,700 between May 12 and June 29 were seen by CIR’s researchers.
KYIV, Ukraine: As per research issued on Friday, satellite and ground images reveal a substantial increase in burials in Russian-held areas of Ukraine.
The non-profit Centre for Information Resilience looked at pictures of funerals in six areas of southern Ukraine, two of which had been controlled by the Russian military in the past.
“Open source information can give unprecedented reach behind the frontlines of the war in Ukraine and into areas occupied by Russian forces,” said CIR’s Benjamin Strick.
Between October 21 and March 28, the report’s writers saw 1,000 new graves at Mariupol’s Starokrymske cemetery.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and nearly seized Mariupol by March’s end.
Authors saw 1,141 new graves between March 28 and May 12 and almost 1,700 between May 12 and June 29.
Independent verification was impossible.
Strick says, “Our report illustrates the continuing, extreme pressure on civilian life in Ukraine,“
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“Makeshift burials and the growing number of graves around Ukraine, particularly in and around occupied areas, is a stark illustration of the civilian death toll following the Russian invasion.”
Satellite imagery was compared to geolocated data, including social media.
Large trenches and temporary graves were dug in Pionerske and Manhush, which are close to Mariupol.
Mariupol, the site of some of the war’s bloodiest combat, has suffered 22,000 civilian deaths, according to Ukraine.
Even though the Ukrainians launched a counteroffensive, Russia still has control of Kherson, where 824 graves were dug between the start of the war and the beginning of April.
The UN human rights office estimates more than 5,000 civilian deaths in Ukraine, but the real number is certainly higher.
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